February 6, 2006

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Opponent: Southern Utah
Dates: February 9-11, 2006 
Location: Cedar City, Utah
Time: 1:00pm Thursday & Friday, 12:00pm doubleheader Saturday

This Week in Wolverine Baseball ... 
Utah Valley State opens the 2006 baseball season with a four-game series at Southern Utah this week in Cedar City. 

SUU finished 26-28 as season ago and 12-10 in Mid-Continent Conference play. They return Trever Dimick, who led the team in 2005 with a .345 average and Jeff Oliverson, who posted a school record 1.95 ERA in '05.

The Wolverines and T-Birds met seven times in 2005, with SUU sweeping the Wolverines' first series of the '05 season, 4-2, 7-6 and 10-0.

Southern Utah came to Orem in late March in the opening series at the new Wolverine Baseball Stadium.

In that four-game series Utah Valley won the first three games, 5-3, 25-6 and 11-9 before dropping the series finale 12-7.

With that series serving as the opening of the new stadium, several of the stadium "firsts" came during those four games.

The first hit at the new stadium came from SUU's Jason Ruiz in the top of the 1st inning. The T-Bird's Justin Sotelo scored the first run on the first RBI by Mike Martin, also in the 1st inning.

The first home run came courtesy of Utah Valley State's Dan Bulow in the bottom of the 7th inning, helping notch the 5-3 Wolveirne win. 

Kam Mickolio earned the win while Brady Drake picked up a save for Utah Valley State. Two days later Bulow belted the first grand slam at the new stadium in the third inning of the 11-9 Utah Valley victory.

2006 Season Preview ... 
Heading into year three of Division-I competition, the Utah Valley State baseball program expects another season of D-I experience under its belt will help lead the Wolverines to success in 2006.

Although they finished the '05 campaign with a 17-39 record, UV had several wins to hang its hat on. The school's first win over a ranked opponent came on May 4, 2005 when little Utah Valley State went into Tempe, Arizona and shocked #16 Arizona State, 9-6. The Sun Devils would admittedly use that game as a turning point on their way to a third place finish at the College World Series. 

The team also earned its first win ever over BYU, a 7-4 victory on April 18th in Orem, and won three out of five against another in-state rival, Utah.

"We had a lot of ups and downs. We played really well at times against some good teams and then we didn't play as well against teams I thought we had a chance to beat," said UV head coach Steve Gardner.

To build off of wins like that is a goal for Gardner, who returns both his top hitter, Eli Slesk and home run threat, Dan Bulow. 

Despite returning those two juniors and five seniors that had at least 125 at bats, the Wolverines lost two important sticks in Kory Drew, the Independent Newcomer of the Year and the team's leading RBI man in Trent Perry, who knocked in 57 runs in 2005.

"We lost some good players but I think we have some guys back who can have good years for us," said Gardner.

Some expected to those holes are senior outfielder Nick Connor, who will move from right to center this year, and senior pitcher Kam Mickolio.

"Nick is a guy that has good speed in the outfield. He's a four-tool guy and even though he doesn't have a lot of power he can do everything else," he said. "As for Kam, he's been working really hard this off season. He's made huge strides on his command. People are gonna like what they see with him."

The 2006 schedule includes two of Baseball America's preseason Top 25 in #3 Oregon State (Corvallis, Oregon – March 24-26) and #21 Fresno State (Fresno, CA – February 17-19). The Wolverines will travel to San Francisco in March to take on a team that finished 38-18 a season ago and is getting national attention.

"When we recruit kids they know they're going to come to a Division-I program and they're gonna play a good D-I schedule," said Gardner. "The better competition you play the more your kids can grow and improve."

Also on the schedule are all three D-I in-state schools. Like last season the Wolverines will open at Southern Utah for four games before the T-Birds return to Orem in late March for four. They are also scheduled to play Utah six times and BYU four. 

Those in-state games are important for all the schools involved for more reasons than one says Gardner.

"If you can compete against the in state schools and even pick up few wins it gives credibility to the program. There's also a lot more excitement for an in-state game. And it kind of gives you some bragging rights. It's fun for the fans."

Offensive Outlook:
The Wolverine will be hard pressed to replace Perry's offensive output of a .330 average with 14 home runs, 57 runs batted in and 21 doubles. Also gone from 2005 are Drew's .333 average and eight home runs. But of seven batters that hit .328 or better, four will return including Bulow, who hit .331 with 15 home runs. Bulow, a member of the D-I All-Independent 2nd Team, led all independent players in home runs per game and was tied for the lead in total home runs.

Slesk, who led the team with a .367 average in 2005 has worked hard in the off season to improve in every facet of his game.

"Eli is one of our leaders…he's a quiet leader," said Gardner. "But you won't find a guy that works harder than him. He one of those guys that leads by example."

Connor and Canyon Vance, who hit .329 and .328, respectively, will both be relied on to repeat those feats. Vance was named All-Independent Honorable Mention and was fourth on the team with five home runs and will have to supply some of the power that will be missed without Perry and Drew.

Also returning are senior second baseman Brad Hales and third baseman Reno Mendenhall, who hopes to return to his 2004 form when he hit .353 and was named 2nd Team All-Independent.

Several newcomers, including freshmen Chris Benson and Jason Zundel and transfers Kade Boyer and Derrick Thomas will get their fair share of at-bats. Boyer is penciled in at the right filed position, while Thomas, who swings it from the left side, and Benson could see some time at DH.

Pitching Outlook:
Mickolio will head a much deeper staff from a season ago. The 6-9 senior will likely be the Friday starter in most cases, but senior Kyle Tash and newcomers Ryan Jessop and BYU Transfer Kalen Parson will figure into the weekend rotation. 

Those four plus senior Brett Guerrero will have to replace the arms of Jed Jensen and Brady Drake from a season ago. Jensen, who was named Independent Player of the Week after earning the win at Arizona State, was the team's leader in several categories including wins and innings pitched. Drake was a reliable lefty that was second on the team with four wins and led the team with three complete games.

Several others, including sophomore Marcus Moore, JC transfers Turreal Moore and Dan Christensen and freshmen Kyle Beecher and Kyle Wink will see action for the Wolverines.

"We're not sure about what position a lot of our pitchers are going to be in and what roles they will play," said Gardner. "But I think over all we've got 10 guys that can contribute. We've made a lot of improvements from where we were last year. I think the staff will be stronger than it has the past couple of years."

Up Next ...
The Wolverines travel to Fresno State, February 17-19 in Fresno. The Bulldogs began the season ranked #21 in the Baseball America preseason polls.